U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,808 for Packaging Structure which issued June 11, 1974 discloses and claims a bottle carrying tray which is reuseable and a cardboard sleeve which telescopes downwardly over the open top of the tray. This arrangement does not afford a cover for the bottom of the tray. The cardboard sleeve is arranged tightly to grip the side and end walls of the tray. This tray and sleeve arrangement does not lend itself to machine handling and requires a substantial amount of labor. In practice, a tray formed according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,808 normally utilizes a sleeve formed of E-flute paperboard which may have a wavy external surface having a deleterious effect on print copy which detracts from the appearance of the tray sleeve.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,652 for "Blank for Container Cover" issued Dec. 17, 1974 discloses a blank from which a sleeve may be formed and which preferably utilizes two layers of cardboard, the sleeve being disposable as is the sleeve of U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,808.